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Item Ships From: Berkshires
Louis Rousselet ArtDeco Glass FloralLampwork BlackBeaded SilverToggle Necklace
By Louis Rousselet
Located in Chicago, IL
With a distinct silver twisted toggle clasp and multiple kinds of nubby rondelles dating to the late 1920s, Parisian parurier Louis Rousselet's workshop handcrafted this glass beaded...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Sterling Silver
Antique Amuletic Dozen RockCrystals CagedRing Medieval Style Gilt Bronze Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique amuletic bronze framed pendant cages a dozen 7mm-diameter single-cut rock crystals that each feature a table-cut decagon crown, deep pavilion, 21 facets and uncut girdle, while the culets range from off-center to blunted. They are tightly set within four linked rings to overlap at the same angle in a sparkling single row. Seeming to retain a little of its original yellow-gold gilding on just the interior, the frame that surrounds each of the four sections of three crystals enables them to reflect pale-yellow-and-lime light when the pendant is viewed from certain angles.
Suggesting French heritage, the Medieval Frankish culture in northern France made jewelry in similar segmented or openwork shapes of wheels or whorls, which were worn as gem-decorated disk-shaped brooches or gold-caged rock...
Category
18th Century French Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gilt Metal, Bronze, Copper
Artist BertoiaStyle Hammered SterlingSilver SquiggleSpiral UndulatingWire Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
Strongly resembling the Harry Bertoia Foundation's archived c.1947 unsigned small brooch (D.JE.27) that is essentially an elegant hammered silver curvilinear three-humped squiggle by...
Category
Early 20th Century American Modern Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Sterling Silver
Krementz 1950s Boxed RoseFlowerCharms TriColor GoldPlate Chain Link Bracelet
By Krementz & Co
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring five intricate rose-flower charms, Krementz finished this chain link bracelet with its characteristic multi-color gold gilding, which is known for being as much as 30 times thicker than the overlay of other jewelry companies as a testament to the enduring quality of its designs. The elegant textured linked shapes and flowers recall the Art- Nouveau style that distinguished the earliest designs by Krementz for women in the 1920s. The brand signature is on
the fold-over clasp.
As three pieces of this listing, the excellent-condition bracelet comes with its original signed green-velvet...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Nouveau Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold Plate, Rose Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
Couture Chanel 1930s Byzantine PurpleHeart RealPearls&Gems Gold Medallion Brooch
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
When French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was at her peak during the Art-Deco period as a Parisian couture-fashion designer in the early 1930s, this one-of-a-kind handcrafted gem-fringed and gilt-chain medallion brooch with trombone clasp was commissioned by her to accessorize one of her clothing designs. Marked only "FRANCE" like some early 1930s Chanel couture jewelry (without a brand stamp until the 1950s), its artistic origin is most likely from ornate organic-form sketches by her favorite parurier Fulco di Verdura. The Sicilian duke began creating fabric patterns for Chanel in 1927, which shortly expanded to fine jewelry beginning with custom pieces for herself. These include the iconic Byzantine-influenced gem-adorned cuffs referencing the Maltese-military cross, which the French designer can often be seen wearing in circa-1930s photos.
This bright-yellow gold brooch suits goldsmith Verdura's early anti-Art-Deco aesthetic that was considered a radical departure from 1920s silver-tone jewelry, which otherwise featured linear geometric designs or figurative representation. The softly-shaped deconstructed gem-bouquet mixes amethyst and rose-quartz beads with natural Keshi pearls and intricate tiny gilt leaves, which are wired to a Baroque-motif open-work frame that dangles another gem surrounded by a thick gilt-rope halo. Notably, Verdura is credited with re-introducing since Victorian times the rope motif to jewelry.
Since 1930, Verdura's unique style was influenced by travels with Chanel to explore Byzantine art, Baroque architecture, and exotic flora-and-fauna among his native Italian aristocratic estate. The legendary fashion-editor Diane Vreeland and American entertainment-stars were among the first Chanel clients to acquire couture real-gem-adorned jewelry made by Verdura, while one of the two brooches treasured by Vreeland was titled "Theodora". See our photo of the Byzantine mosaic of Empress Theodora, whose image wearing many teardrop pearls above her chest and surrounded by a golden halo seems to be the inspiration for this brooch.
As one of the most important modern-design collaborations, Chanel's close relationship with Verdura lasted largely undocumented years in Paris, until he launched his first outside jewelry venture with a Hollywood designer-boutique after emigrating to the United States in 1934. By 1939 as a financially-backed in-demand goldsmith, he founded the namesake jewelry-company Verdura in New...
Category
1930s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Amethyst, Pearl, Quartz, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
Couture 1938 France Depose ElsaSchiaparelli Pagan FeatherCrystalGold Bird Brooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Unusually decorated with small partridge feathers like the yellow-gold gilt necklace commissioned by Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) that is featured on the front-and-back covers and centerfold of the French costume-jewelry hardcover book Lina Baretti Parures authored by Patrick Mauries, this unique pave-crystal yellow-gold gilt metal partridge-on-a-branch brooch is further distinguished as an unsigned Parisian-couture piece for Italian-born Schiaparelli with its combination of embossed text "Made In France" and "Modele Depose", along with the trombone clasp often used in the early 20th Century for custom-made French small brooches.
The book centerfold on pages 90-91 shows a closeup of the feathered necklace created by French-born Corsican Baretti, whose intricate decoration often mixed ready-made textural or shiny materials like velvet, cork, wire, rhodoid or raffia with custom-made metal, plastic or glass by specialized Parisian workshops such as Maison Gripoix. The Baretti-book caption about the attributed necklace notes: "Collier realise pour Elsa Schiaparelli. Liege, soie, cannetille, perles de verre et plumes de perdix. Chaine en metal." While none of the captions date this necklace--which could have been from the same commission as our brooch--Baretti created one-of-a-kind jewelry for Schiaparelli from the 1930s to the early 1950s until the fashion designer retired.
Our brooch was most likely made for a fashion-show debut of one of Schiaparelli's themed clothing collections in the late 1930s for which she commissioned many costume-jewelry paruriers including Baretti. See our photo of a Schiaparelli 1930s...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
HenrySchreiner Early Set ProngSet Crystal Silver Spray Tiered Earrings & Brooch
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
Henry Schreiner, the Austrian-born blacksmith founder of Schreiner in New York in 1932, handcrafted this demi-parure of prong-set colorless crystal stylized-foliage sprays after he b...
Category
1940s American Victorian Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Diamond, Rhodium, Silver
Couture Cis Zoltowska Fingerlike ProngSet CrackleGlass RedBalls Silver Earrings
By Countess Cis Zoltowska
Located in Chicago, IL
In the mid-century, Austro-Hungarian Comtesse Cissy Zoltowska designed haute-couture costume jewelry with elements of hand-craftsmanship for some of the leading European houses inclu...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Modern Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Mixed Metal
Antique ImperialJadeite TranslucentGreen IntricateCarvedFlora 1890sScrewEarrings
Located in Chicago, IL
Made during the crossover Arts & Crafts and Art-Nouveau movements, these antique Chinese earrings feature rare Burmese natural untreated translucent im...
Category
1890s Chinese Arts and Crafts Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Jade, Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
HattieCarnegie 1955 Signed Glass Crystal HandWired MixedBead GiltMetal Earrings
By Hattie Carnegie
Located in Chicago, IL
These Hattie Carnegie multicolor glass, crystal and gilt-metal earrings notably include her script last-name signature without copyright symbol that is found on clips produced before...
Category
1950s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Coral, Gold, Brass, Copper, Gilt Metal
ArtDeco 1927-1936 Mazer Faux Citrine GrayDiamond Stylized Heart GiltLinkBracelet
By Joseph Mazer
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed with the earliest "Mazer Bros" signature on the colorless-crystal-decorated silver metal clasp, Joseph Mazer designed this Art-Deco period gold-gilt s...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Citrine, Crystal, Black Diamond, Gilt Metal, Gold, Silver
Couture 1950s WestGermany DiorDesigner Crystal DoubleTrimmed EmeraldCut Earrings
By Christian Dior Haute Couture
Located in Chicago, IL
While making similar Christian Dior haute-couture costume-jewelry since 1955, parurier Max Muller based near Kaufbeuren, Western Germany, created these exceptionally-clear crystal si...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Modern Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Gilt Metal
Couture Fruit HandPainted WoodCherries RedGreenCharms ChainLink Vintage Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This vintage cherry-fruit charm necklace featuring red hand-painted wood is constructed of silver chain links and its clasp extension-chain is decorated with a single red bead. The green leaves that trim the berry beads are a surprising two-tone plastic, indicating that they were also handcrafted.
Notably, the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is famous for including custom plastic elements in her mostly unsigned jewelry that accompanied her couture collections in the late 1930s.
Please see TheMet online archive to view Schiaparelli's most well-known couture necklace structured from plastic supporting metal insects...
Category
20th Century Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Silver Plate, Gilt Metal
Couture 1937-40 ElsaSchiaparelli MarcelVertes Harlequin Duck GlazedCeramicBrooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Between the first ad campaign that legendary fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) commissioned from internationally-admired Paris-based Hungarian-born multimedia artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) for her blockbuster perfume "Shocking" in 1937 and in 1940 when they left France after launching her perfume "Sleeping" shortly before the Nazi occupation during WWII, the illustrator-cum-ceramist distinctly handmade, while traditional materials for couture costume-jewelry were scarce in Paris, this whimsical red glazed ceramic brooch depicting a duck holding a "wet" umbrella dripped with dashes of turquoise or black glaze.
Significantly, the trombone clasp of the brooch pin, the long-pronged gilt frame, and the text stamped on its back plate "Made In France" match a similarly sized glazed-ceramic brooch of a decoratively-chained bear that was published in the book Bijoux (page 146). The author Deanna Farenti Cera dated that likewise unbranded unsigned brooch to 1938 when it was commissioned for one of Schiaparelli's fashion shows themed "Circus". The invitation to that show, which was illustrated with circus characters and performing animals by Vertes' Parisian peer Christian Berard, included a domesticated white duck--notably not holding nor wearing a fashion accessory.
Unusually, Schiaparelli had commissioned couture umbrellas from other artisans in the 1930s--a couple of which were acquired by TheMet museum. Another relevant Met acquisition of the designer's couture evening gown, which it dates to Summer 1940, features three large glazed-ceramic fasteners in a contrasting color matching our brooch.
The like findings, materials, construction, text, object, and palette aside, accessory-adorned ducks were also among the figurative animals commissioned by Schiaparelli for that last collection before the Germans dominated Paris by June 1940, which is evidenced by the photo of the dated gilt hatpin depicting a bejeweled head with a bill that appears in the book by Patrick Mauries about another Schiaparelli-associated French parurier Lina Baretti (pages 124-125). See our other listing for one of Baretti's uniquely feathered designs, which likewise has a pronged gilt frame with trombone clasp like ours, but whose partridge subject best suits an earlier Schiaparelli collection for Fall 1938 titled "Pagan".
For us, distinguishing our brooch from other one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces created for Schiaparelli couture...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearlLampworkGlass BrassClip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel beginning in 1924, these floral-motif wired earrings with early handcrafted brass flat clips are decorated with button-like cultured mother-of-pearl disks mixed with Parisian organically-coated lampwork glass, which we photographed in indoor sunlight for the most accurate iridescent ecru colors. The pair were designed by Chanel to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons) for a client of this pearl-associated couturier whose earliest one-of-a-kind jewelry such as pieces for herself--unlike other 1920s fashion designers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The intricate glass artistry, wired cluster arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of Chanel's first Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 that became recognized for faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work construction. As the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated brass hardware to the mid-1920s.
The beads of various sizes and ecru colors that are wired to each earring include five round flat graduating iridescent mother-of-pearls, along with lampwork glass replicating nine baroque pearls, five round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural imperfections on the green-and-rose-reflecting cultured pearls, while there is some nacre-enamel loss on the glass beads that is not eye visible. On closer view, one of the central round glass beads has a lighter blister, which appears like the texture of some uncultured pearls.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France".
We acquired these earrings in The States along with a similar set with fewer but larger "petals, berries and leaves", which we priced the same in a different listing despite the slightly greater size and weight of this pair. So we know that they both were created for a single commission of multiple unique earrings with like lampwork-glass shapes and findings to be paired with the button-like mother-of-pearls provided by Chanel. While we have acquired over a dozen pre-signature pieces commissioned by the founder, these are the earliest earrings that we have discovered by Chanel. We have never found a single match to contradict our recognition of her early couture creations nor to attribute them to another designer.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
Couture Antique Chanel Late1920s France Rousselet Lampwork Glass Floral Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel since 1924, these early-handcraf...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
Trifari Philippe1940s JellyBelly & PearlFlowers GoldPendants SignedChainNecklace
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
Among the most in-demand designs by Trifari artistic director Alfred Philippe were his flora and "jelly belly" fauna jewelry from the 1940s. Both iconic styles can be mixed as the go...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Gold, Vermeil, Yellow Gold
YBA YoungBritishArtist Sculpture JewelryCostume First US Exhibit NYC 2000-2001
By Contemporary
Located in Chicago, IL
Young British artist (YBA) Philippe Bradshaw (1965-2005) was represented by blue-chip international art galleries when he was the first to reimagine iconic-art images as tapestry-like metal-chain installations in multimedia environments. He is best known for transforming hand-assembled colorful anodized-aluminum links into shimmering semi-transparent layered curtains, whose hanging long strands uniquely amplified the light and sound of his projected camcorder videos and DJ'd music.
In Bradshaw's first American exhibition "Disco Damage" in 2001 at NYC's legendary avant-garde art gallery, Deitch Projects, this jewelry-costume sculpture became part of the artist's live-in evolving studio installation. While later celebrating 15 years of art happenings that had occurred at that Soho exhibition space, its gallerist-cum-museum-director Jeffrey Deitch--who was physically scarred during this unforgettable chaotic several-month experience orchestrated by Bradshaw--recounted this show in his retrospective hardcover book "Live The Art".
When Bradshaw drowned in the Parisian-river Seine in August 2005 while living the high life of his skyrocketing success in Europe, he left a small body of large installations that is mostly distributed among the world's top private art collections. Notably, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has acquired one of his multimedia works. More recently, another assembly of his chain curtains made a rare public appearance at new modern-art museum, Heidi Horten Collection, during its inaugural exhibition in Vienna.
Since winning a major British visual-art prize in 2000 that marked Bradshaw's art-world ascent following fellow Goldsmiths-College YBAs who were close friends, this sculpture evolved from one of his most elaborate jewelry costumes that he created in London while seducing the American who became his girlfriend. Unlike other pieces of jewelry that he made as gifts to participating acquaintances while video taping...
Category
Early 2000s British Contemporary Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Mixed Metal
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearl&LampworkGlass Clip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel since 1924, these beaded early-handcrafted-clip earrings are arranged with wire in a floral motif featuring button-like mother-of-pearls accented by smaller balls of lampwork glass with an ecru organic coating that mimics pearl nacre. The pair were designed to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons and a brooch) for a client of the pearl-associated French couturier whose earliest jewelry--unlike her fashion-designer peers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The glass artistry, clustered arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of her Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 specializing in faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work assembly, along with other decorative elements. Since the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated brass hardware to the mid1920s.
The beads of various sizes and shades of white that are wired to these earrings include four round graduating iridescent mother-of-pearl disks, along with lampwork glass replicating four baroque pearls, three round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural impurities present on the green-and-pink-reflecting cultured pearls, while we can clean dust from the coated-glass crevices upon request.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France". We acquired these earrings in The States along with similar pair with additional but smaller "petals, berries and leaves" from the same Rousselet commission.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
Schreiner 1950s ProngSet UniqueGreen ABCrystals PaveCrystalLeaves Silver Brooch
By Schreiner of New York
Located in Chicago, IL
This colorful prong-set crystal spray brooch by Schreiner New York was made to compliment luxury clothing by a U.S.-based fashion designer, such as Pauline Trigere, in the late 1950s. This piece is special because it shows the unique decorative technique that Schreiner used for a period of several years in reaction to the limited availability of the first aurora-borealis (AB) stones by Swarovski in 1956, which had been designed for Christian Dior.
In response to the availability of only the initial AB color that mostly reflected bright blue and the high demand from other designers, Schreiner's creative family soon applied transparent glass paint to create additional colors, such as the light-green painted AB crystals on this brooch. According to Henry Schreiner's late daughter who took over the business with her jewelry-designer husband, this enabled them to become the first to produce costume jewelry with AB stones in different colors, while Swarovski took several years to introduce similar colors.
All original painted AB crystals are intact in this brooch, which is significant since a lost stone...
Category
1950s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Brass
1950sRobertGoosensStyle CastOakLeaf Talisman BaroqueFauxPearls GoldChain Sautoir
Located in Chicago, IL
While contracted as an independent craftsman to create one-of-a-kind costume jewelry for French Masion Degorce from 1953 until it closed in 1957, Parisian goldsmith Robert Goosens (1927-2016) was initially commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel to craft one-of-a-kind Byzantine-style long decorative-chain necklaces with sculptural gilt-metal or faux-pearl charms, while she intended to layer many of them to accessorize her couture clothing for clients and herself.
Relevant to the unclear designer of our vintage nine-pendant ribbed-chain sautoir with an unsigned gold-gilt silver barrel clasp and five unique kinds of intricately textured vermeil and baroque faux-pearl charms, a similar lost-wax-cast center pendant with three-lobed-foliate prongs also in the shape of oak leaves can be seen in the book (p.28), Bijoux de Haute Couture: Collection Robert Goossens, by Gilles Plazy and Chantal Bizot published in Paris in 2000. The same year, that Chanel-signed pendant necklace was auctioned by Christie's in a lot including an unsigned long chain sautoir attributed to Chanel. Further, another 1stDibs dealer currently has a $12,500 listing for an unsigned but book-published early-1950s faux-pearl sautoir for Chanel that also features intricate pinecone talismans like ours, but decorated with poured glass and crystals crafted by Maison Gripoix.
When Chanel relaunched her post-war business ventures, Goosens soon became her favorite parurier before founding his eponymous Maison Goosens, whose venerable workshop later designed metal work for its own jewelry-and-furnishings brand Goosens Paris.
Notably, Chanel did not add a brand signature to costume jewelry until the late 1950s, while some pieces prior to this by multiple paruriers are documented to lack any identification that Chanel was earlier known to stamp such as "France", "Made In France" and/or "Depose". Recently, a similar unsigned/unmarked longer chain sautoir with fewer filigree-and-pearl pendants that was believed to be by Robert Goosens for Chanel...
Category
1950s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Silver, Vermeil
Antique French ArtNouveau MuchaMajorelleGruberStyle SignedNancyGlass SilveredBox
By Daum
Located in Chicago, IL
Influenced by the Art Nouveau illustrations of Alphonse Mucha, this antique French jewelry box display case is decorated with silvered bronze or ...
Category
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal, Silver Plate, Brass, Bronze
Couture Chanel Pre1955 SignedFrance Gripoix PouredGlass Robert Goosens Earrings
By Maison Gripoix for Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This couture handcrafted glass pair of mid-century gold-gilt metal clip earrings are both stamped "France" on their convex ear-pads, which is characteristic of one-of-a-kind designs commissioned by Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel before a brand signature was added to her costume jewelry around 1955. The construction matches unsigned poured-glass prong-set cabochon, prong-set crystal, and wired faux-pearl jewelry...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Turquoise, Pearl, Gold, Gilt Metal
Couture 1939-50 Schiaparelli-SchlumbergerStyle GlassBeads ProngSetCrystal Brooch
By Artisan NYC
Located in Chicago, IL
In the style of Elsa Schiaparelli couture costume-jewelry and one of her paruriers since the late 1930s, Jean Schlumberger, this handcrafted highly-textural glass-and-crystal rhodium...
Category
1940s American Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Silver, Rhodium
Grosse 1960s Brooch with Pearls
Located in Alford, MA
Grosse brooch from 1968 composed of an open network of crownlike elements, each point terminating in a textured drop, and each circular grouping centerin...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Schiaparelli Signed MidCentury Leaves Motif Austrian Crystals Gilt Link Bracelet
By Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Schiaparelli" in script, this mid-century link bracelet features a textural-leaves motif characteristic of costume jewelry by the Parisian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Like m...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-War Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Monet Silver Chain Slide Necklace
Located in Alford, MA
A versatile piece from Monet in hard-to-find silver tone metal. Multi chains terminating in pointed elements held in center with a barrel-shaped silver slide that moves up and down t...
Category
1970s American Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Brass Boomerang Necklace
By Oscar De La Renta
Located in Alford, MA
Gold tone necklace composed of boomerang-shaped components in graduated sizes is attributed to Oscar de la Renta, but unmarked. Chain in back is adjustable. Great statement necklace....
Category
Late 20th Century American Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
MiriamHaskell 1945 PeacockBeads Parure Wired Bracelet Earrings 16Strand Necklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess--before 1947 when the brand mark was added and while couture-style adjustable-hook necklaces were in demand in post-war America--produced t...
Category
1940s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
MiriamHaskell 1926-1939 Crystal. Glass Galalith Beads GoldGilt WireCoil Bracelet
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
This Miriam Haskell (1899-1981) brass-wire wrap coil bracelet that features handcrafted peacock-colored beads and decorative gold-gilt brass was created by her first designer Frank H...
Category
Early 20th Century American Baroque Revival Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
Antique FabergeStyle 3AquamarineCabochons 4GreyDiamonds BezelSet Platinum Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique Victorian platinum filigree bar-brooch or tie-pin from the Edwardian period with Faberge-style elements features bezel settings with three square-cut 10mm sugarloaf aqua...
Category
Early 1900s European Edwardian Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Diamond, Aquamarine, Black Diamond, Platinum
Couture 1930s CocoChanel LinaBaretti SatinBlackCamellias PaveCrystals Gold Set
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This rare signed couture set of pave-crystal and gold-plated brooch and earrings from the Art-Deco period is marked in the manner of one-off costume jewelry commissioned...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Gold Plate, Silver
MiriamHaskell WWII Era GoldGilt Filigree Cast Butterfly FrankHess Pre1945 Brooch
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
A child of the Art-Nouveau period, Miriam Haskell loved its butterfly design-motifs, which are found in many pieces of costume jewelry by her first designer Frank Hess. His butterfly...
Category
1940s American Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Base Metal
Couture S/S1956 SignedDiorDesigner First AB Crystals Western Germany Earrings
By Christian Dior
Located in Chicago, IL
Distinguishing these couture Christian Dior Spring/Summer 1956 "Western Germany"-stamped silver earrings featuring the first Swarovski gold-foi...
Category
1950s German Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
MiriamHaskell WWII FrankHess Layered Rhodoid & Crystal Montee Climber Earrings
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Beginning in 1939, American Miriam Haskell asked her first designer since 1926 Frank Hess to sparingly use metal in their costume-jewelry collections during WWII while war materials were needed. So not unlike the Spring/Summer 2024 floral appliques designed by Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing, hand-crafted rose-motif plastic never looked more beautiful in the 20th Century than such eye-catching glossy creations as these ballet-pink clip earrings by Hess. In this reflective and sparkling pair of lightweight slightly asymmetrical climbers, shiny film-like rhodoid is hand-cut, layered in three dimensions for irregular shadows, and riveted with clear roses-montees to a thin silver metal frame, which replaced Hess' characteristic wired Russian-gilt brass frame while still resembling his earlier construction (see our other Haskell listing for an early double fur-clip chain lariat). The earring clips, with tiny holes that were used for unsigned Haskell...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Mixed Metal
MiramHaskell c1930 Stamped Brass FloralMotif Pendants Link Chain Choker Necklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring stamped-brass findings c1930, this Miriam Haskell collar necklace was made by her first designer Frank Hess in an Art-Nouveau style with ornate floral motifs for its 15 dangling bud-shaped or fluted-ball pendants, along with intricate textural patterns on the stamped bands that link the oval-ring chain choker. Among the festoon of graduating charms, the largest centered pendant is 1.5 inches long and 0.75 inches in diameter. One of our photos show that the surprisingly light-weight pendants are hollow--some with a hole punched at the bottom.
The distinct stamped bands, which include a fold-over clasp, are found in more obviously Haskell-Hess pre-WWII jewelry...
Category
1930s American Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
Original by Robert Pearl and Rhinestone Brooch/Pendant
By Original by Robert
Located in Alford, MA
Wreath-shaped brooch of various pearls, rhinestones, crystals, and micro gold beads by Robert, c.1960. Hook in addition to pin, so can be worn as pendant. Some of the Original by Robert...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Retro Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl
Vendome 1948-55 Crystal Beaded Set Earrings & 3Strand Capped Faux Pearl Necklace
By Vendome
Located in Chicago, IL
Between 1948-1955 this early Vendome crystal set was made for a high-end line by Coro to include a three-strand tricolor beaded necklace with flowe...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Baroque Revival Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
Trifari 1930s Philippe YellowGold HeavyChain Tassel Sautoir Textural Demi Parure
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Trifari" with a crown and without a post-1955 U.S.-copyright symbol on all three matching pieces, this likely late-1930s highly-textured yellow-gold-plated demi-parure was designed by American Trifari's French-born head designer Alfred Philippe after he had honed his fine-jewelry craftsmanship while creating luxury parures for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The set features a heavy tasseled eight-strand chain sautoir necklace and earrings with dropped fluted-ball pendants,
With French-style signed clip fastening, the contrasting-texture two-inch-long earrings each have two twisted fluted round beads in different sizes, with the larger one capped at both ends with additional shapes and textures.
On the necklace, this textural contrast is amplified with the inclusion of many chains. The decorative chain caps and...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
16thCentury RockCrystal Hogback ScissorCut Silver High Relief Scrollwork Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
In a rare scissor cut dating to the 1500s, this centuries-old prong-set hogback rock-crystal pendant produces a fascinating play of refractions in low light. With its rectangular nar...
Category
16th Century European Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Silver
Otazu Fringe Necklace
By Rodrigo Otazu
Located in Alford, MA
A statement necklace from 2010 by Rodrigo Otazu, known for his extravagant creations for Madonna, Lady Gaga, and for the Sex and the City cast. Fashioned from multiple layers of gold...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Renaissance FleurDeLis Niello HighRelief GiltEngraved Heraldry Reliquary Jewelry
Located in Chicago, IL
Demonstrating the epitome of miniature decorative art by Renaissance European goldsmiths who fashioned quatrefoil and/or cruciform jewelry with heraldry or religious symbols, this ce...
Category
16th Century European Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Niello, Silver, Copper
Couture 1920s French HandCarved Dogs Hounds Galalith RedPaintedArtPlastic Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
This Art-Deco period French carved, lathe-worked, sculpted and red-painted black-galalith figural brooch depicts a pair of long-limbed dogs, which may be wolfhounds, greyhounds or wh...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
MidCentury SculpturalTexturedGoldBowClasp Graduated4Strand Snake Chain Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This mid-century shiny yellow-gold-plated snake-chain multi-strand necklace features a sculptural finely-textured gilt-metal bow that is positioned to rest on the upper left chest to...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gold Plate, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Antique ArtNouveau Austria Scheid RareMark Pave BlueZircon Silver Snake Brooch
By Georg Adam Scheid
Located in Chicago, IL
During the Art-Nouveau period while German-born Vienna-based silversmith, niello master, and entrepreneur Georg Adam Scheid (1837-1921) was prospering from a related refinery busines...
Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Victorian Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Aquamarine, Diamond, Sapphire, Zircon, Silver, Sterling Silver
Couture Depose France Set PouredGlass Earrings & LampworkGlass 2Strand Necklace
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Since 1920, French costume-jewelry glass-master Louis Rousselet was among a handful of paruriers favored by the leading Parisian couture houses, primarily Chanel. Beyond the stamped ...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Moonstone, Topaz, Citrine, Amber, Gold, Gilt Metal, Brass, Silver
Bakelite 1930s German ArtDeco GoldRinged EmeraldBallPendants ChainLink Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Most likely made in Germany during the Art Deco period, this vintage unsigned long heavy 12-pendant gold-gilt chain-link bib necklace features ball charms of gold-ringed emerald-green matte Bakelite. Hanging 13-inches from the back of the neck, the long necklace is constructed with elegant double-ring links, while it fastens with a large toggle and decorative bar.
Each end of the toggle bar resembles stacked balls, recalling the oval-cartouche stacked-cannonball signature of German jewelry chain-specialist Jakob Bengel, who founded his business in Idar-Oberstein in 1873. Due to WWII, the Bengel factory, which is now a museum, permanently closed. His pre-1940 unsigned designs were largely overlooked until his factory catalogues were rediscovered decades later, which enabled 21st-Century books to be published about one of the leading manufacturers of Art Deco costume jewelry. Bengel pieces without the cartouche can be distinguished by thin metal chain links combined with single or bi-color Bakelite pendants in repeating geometric shapes like balls, semi-circles, rectangles, bars, rings or ribbed texture.
As Germany was the first country to license Bakelite for factory production since the 1910s, during the next 20 years its costume-jewelry designers began to feature locally-produced colorful Bakelite instead of glass or early semi-synthetic plastics. Between the world wars during poor economic conditions in Germany, its jewelry producers who were manufacturing for export were not motivated to stamp their country on such products.
The design of this Bakelite-charm necklace seems inspired by one-of-a-kind chunkier-chain charm necklaces commissioned for couture clothing ensembles by international fashion leader Parisian Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. She only produced her trend-setting commissioned jewelry...
Category
1930s German Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
ArtDeco Coro 1919 "PatPend" Lady Bug Enamel FauxGem Vermeil Brooch
By Coro
Located in Chicago, IL
With the Coro signature "script-no-angle" since 1919 and "PAT.PEND.", this early Art Deco vermeil lady-bug beetle brooch features a red enameled face and mixed-cut bezel-set red and ...
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Gold, Enamel, Gilt Metal, Vermeil
1941 ChanelRelevant American Reinad ArtDecoStyle Silver PolkaDot LargeBow Brooch
By Reinad
Located in Chicago, IL
In Spring 1941 after French fashion couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel had stopped production of her clothing designs while she remained in Europe during the WWII era, the decades-old American costume-jewelry company Reinad began imprinting pieces in its new retail line, Chanel Novelty Co, with the script signature "Chanel". As this was prior to the use of the sans-serif capital-letter signature "CHANEL" on French-made jewelry that was commissioned by the Parisian designer, as well as before U.S.-copyright protection began in 1955, the House of Chanel that was mostly owned by the Jewish Wertheimer family of venture capitalists (who remarkably still produced Parfums CHANEL and French-vineyard wine via legal proxy while they lived in asylum in The States during the war) filed a U.S. lawsuit to demand that Reinad halt the use of its founder's famous last name.
As the Werthheimers' quickly won, Reinad only produced the single seasonal collection stamped with the French brand name, and subsequently only imprinted its company name as the sans-serif capital-letter signature "REINAD" without a copyright symbol, which was different that its prior signatures dating back to its founding in 1922. When Chanel herself resumed French-made fashion production in Paris in 1953 (with Werthheimer support leading to their acquisition of all rights to her name despite her post-war eight-year exile in Switzerland due to close association with Nazis), for the first time all of her creations were signed "CHANEL" like the original packaging of the exceedingly profitable "No.5" perfume.
While Reinad continued to produced costume jewelry until 1954, in the last decade of this business, the U.S. company continued to try to appeal to potential Chanel buyers by at least making Chanel-style designs. As such, owning an attractive and well-made Reinad piece can be considered a useful investment in fashion history as evidence of a little-known turning-point involving the most famous ongoing luxury-fashion business Chanel, as well as of the impact of that legal judgement had on advancing U.S. design protection for brands that later used the copyright symbol.
Like early ArtDeco-style oversized heavy metallic costume jewelry by Chanel, this three-dimensional monochrome silver-alloy polkadot bow brooch imitates a pale polkadot-textured ribbon. Notably, while high-quality ribbon for styling hair or decorating clothing in a non-functional way was still an expensive accessory...
Category
1940s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Rhodium, Silver, Base Metal
Schreiner NY 1950s 22 ProngSet Crystals AB & PiecrustSetPaleYellow Clip Earrings
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
In 1956 when Christian Dior's ultra-feminine New Look had dominated fashion for nearly a decade, Schreiner New York handcrafted these opulent unsigned earrings with 22 prong-set open-back crystals to accompany the eveningwear of an American high-end fashion designer. They may have been for client Pauline Trigere when her ready-to-wear collections with accessories including unmarked-Schreiner jewelry were sold by NYC's Bergdorf Goodman and worn by her clients including Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Elizabeth Taylor. Comparatively, Schreiner jewelry produced in the 1950s for direct sale to high-end department stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue, were the only pieces to include a brand signature.
Using the best quality European crystals that were custom-made for him, the founder Henry Schreiner was among the world's leading glass-jewelry designers before he died in 1954, whereafter his daughter and her husband continued with their handcrafted production. The family shared this distinction with Western Germany-based Max Muller and Paris-based Roger Jean Pierre, who were commissioned to create haute-couture pieces for the world's leading fashion houses. Notably in 1949, Henry Schreiner was commissioned by Dior to create several exclusive pieces.
We know these earrings were not created earlier than 1956 because of the use of iridescent coating on some of the crystals that produces a rainbow effect. Known as aurora-borealis (AB) stones, Swarovski initially produced them exclusively for a haute-couture collection that year by Dior. Shortly thereafter, the Schreiner team had access to such colorful stones, and most certainly used them as soon as possible to enable their American fashion-designer clients to compete with the new Dior iridescent-colors trend.
At the bottom tips of the marquise-shaped pale yellow stones...
Category
1950s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Dolce & Gabbana 1999 RunwayAccessory Silk Rosette Flower Cufflink Or Boutonniere
By Dolce & Gabbana
Located in Chicago, IL
Dolce & Gabbana featured silk-rose jewelry like this versatile pale-peach seven-inch-diameter accessory on many of the runway looks from the design-duo's Spring/Summer 2000 collection (see photo). The rose is a signature motif of this pair of Italian designers, while the Dolce & Gabbana brand tag is sewn to the back of this piece that was "Made in Italy" in 1999.
The unusual "cufflink" hardware on the back of the faux rose enables it to be secured through a buttonhole or as a pendant for a necklace, neckerchief, or narrow belt...
Category
1990s Italian Romantic Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Base Metal
Couture 1936-49 Schiaparelli-Dali-Style Set FauxSapphire&Pearl Earrings & Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
This handcrafted faux-sapphire-topped-pearl cluster brooch and clip-earrings set dates to around WWII, when fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (18...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Sapphire, Mixed Metal
HattieCarnegie PostWWII Crystal GoldGiltMesh FlutedBalls Dangle Climber Earrings
By Hattie Carnegie
Located in Chicago, IL
Hattie Carnegie (1886-1956)--one of the leading American entrepreneurs of made-to-order and ready-to-wear fashion for four decades--began producing costume-jewelry parures around WWI...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Baroque Revival Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold, Gold Plate
Line Vautrin Set Enamel Carved Resin Edelweiss Brass Clip Earrings & Brooch
By Line Vautrin
Located in Chicago, IL
Line Vautrin created "flame-radiating" resin mirrors in mid-century that are very similar to this sculptural resin edelweiss-flower set of highly-textural, hand-carved and enameled c...
Category
Early 20th Century French Artist Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass, Enamel
16thCentury Renaissance Silver Repousse Lovers Pendant Or Engagement Hat Badge
Located in Chicago, IL
This early 16th-Century Renaissance silver-repousse round medallion "lovers" pendant depicts a romantic encounter in a rural landscape between a man and smiling woman wearing Europea...
Category
16th Century French Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Gilt Metal
Couture 1930s ElsaSchiaparelliStyle FuchsiaFauxRubyGoldGlassBeads Tassel Sautoir
Located in Chicago, IL
Elsa Schiaparelli famously embraced "shocking pink" for her Surrealist-aesthetic couture clothing and handcrafted costume jewelry, which she commissioned from Parisian paruriers beginning in the late 1920s--when some of the most expensive gems were fuchsia Burmese rubies. In this antique glass-beaded sautoir tassel necklace, 37 unusual fuchsia faux-pearls are each delicately caged like hot-air balloons by seven textural strands of faux-pearl-and-gold seed beads. These spherical stations are spaced by lustrous white medium-size faux pearls, ending in a four-strand seed-bead tassel that cages four of the fuchsia beads. The beads are strung on bright magenta silk cord without a clasp.
Sautoirs were an essential element of flapper style since Schiaparelli's couture-mentor Paul Poiret changed the silhouette of clothing in the 1920s, while the long necklaces remained popular until wartime 1939.
To compete with her rival couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, Schiaparelli (1890-1973) relied on the same French glassmakers, Maison Gripoix and Louis Rousselet--the masters of faux pearls at the time who added organic-ingredient coatings to their handmade glass beads. Either glass workshop that was established by the 1920s could have been commissioned to make the progressive hot-pink pearls for this unsigned necklace that dates to the Art-Deco period.
The design of this highly-textural tricolor sautoir featuring fuchsia spheres could suit the style of one of Schiaparelli's most frequent paruriers through the 1930s, Jean Clement. Some of his relevant unsigned work for Schiaparelli is in museum collections like The Met, including highly-textural tricolor sphere-decorated buttons/brooches and a fuchsia-toned metal-rosebud bead necklace.
After Schiaparelli had become associated with fuchsia, she made particularly prolific use of this bright magenta in the late 1930s. In her demi-couture collections such as "Circus" and "Comedia del' Arte" (see our 3 photos), fuchsia jackets are adorned with similar colorful spherical glass beads among embroidered appliques and animal/clown brooches, as well as whimsical painted-ceramic buttons...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Gold
MiriamHaskell 1930s Torsade Set GiltFiligreeCapped FauxPearls Earrings & Choker
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
During the Art Deco period, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess designed this blue-and-white glass-beaded hand-sewn torsade set of dangle earrings and a choker necklace, whose knotted string is capped with their characteristic Russian-gilt brass flora filigree. Coinciding with the American Great Depression, to offer some less expensive costume jewelry than her initial ready-to-wear styles featuring Parisian hand-crafted materials found in French couture, Haskell reduced the cost of some of her findings by locally sourcing stamped metal and incorporating hand-pressed glass beads from Germany and Czechoslovakia.
With a loop, the line from hand pressing the glass can only be found on the blue beads, while the white ones are coated in an organic material like authentic French faux pearls. The ends of the textured cords that string the beaded set were frayed to form a fuzzy opaque dome that hides the knots attached to the filigree caps.
No Haskell jewelry was signed before 1947. The unsigned necklace...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
ArtDeco Marcasite&Pyrite Sparkly SterlingSilver Geometric Filigree WideBand Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Encrusted with mixed-cut pyrite and marcasite stones for gold and silver reflections, this extremely-sparkly double-rimmed wide thick sterling-silver ring was designed by an artisan ...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Marcasite, Pyrite, Sterling Silver
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